Rino Brodbeck, the world renowned Swiss architect presents the Astar Wristwatch, a rare and limited edition timepiece which poetically visualize the movement of the Sun, Earth and Venus.
Limited to 15 pieces world wide the Astar Wristwatch was made by Janvier SA, a firm founded by Vianney Halter, one of the most imaginative watchmakers of the early 21st century and winner of the Grand Prix de Genève Innovation Prize in 2013. It was manufactured in Sainte-Croix, at the heart of Switzerland’s watchmaking region, with all the care and consideration demanded by the craft.
Its mechanical caliber with automatic winding offers a maximum autonomy of 38 hours. It is based on an ETA movement that breaks down the hour with great precision thanks to its 28,800 vph beat. This outstanding timepiece is already a rarity: only 14 collectors will be able to acquire one, because one of the fifteen numbered editions manufactured, number 11, to be precise, has already become part of the inventory of the Musée d’Horlogerie de Genève.
This stainless steel timepiece, whose impeccable roundness embraces something close to total minimalism, has a diameter of 40 millimeters and a height of 10 millimeters. As for the colors and materials, the dial is in a space-like blue, while gold (the hour disc), silver (the minute disc) and diamonds (for the seconds) have replaced the traditional hands.
It takes just a little time, and a learning period, to see the actual time emerge from the configuration of the symbols, the hours-minutes-seconds, the arrangement of surfaces, colors and specific dimensions, all perfectly legible even when superimposed. And each second that passes opens a new, harmonious composition to the delight of the cosmophile’s eye.
Technical details
Movement
Automatic, ETA base, 28,000 vph, 21 jewels, power reserve 46 hours
Case
Diameter 40 millimeters, height 10.5 millimeters, round, stainless steel, convex sapphire crystal with antireflective treatment, water-resistant to 3 atm (30 meters).
The winding crown at 3 o’clock is fully integrated into the case
Dial
Astral blue, discs replace hands, gold for the hours, and silver for the minutes and diamond for the seconds.
About Rino Brodbeck
Rino Brodbeck was born in Basel in 1934. In 1957, he moved Geneva to engage in several architecture projects. A winner of many competitions, he is the author of several major constructions, such as the headquarters of the World Meteorological Organization (OMM) in Geneva, the three new Rolex buildings, and the Hans Wilsdorf bridge (in 2012). Rino Brodbeck always had an affinity for the stars. He therefore imagined a watch governed by the cosmos while, at the same time, respecting the laws that apply in architecture. In 2002, his dream became a reality when he created a limited series of fifteen watches with the following motif: time, space, architecture, and the human being at the center.
